Review of Spy (2015) by Armando G — 02 Feb 2016

I know I'm in for a treat when Melissa McCarthy and writer-director Paul Feig work together. Their two previous films were the hilarious Bridesmaids and The Heat, both of which were favorites of mine.

In Spy, McCarthy plays a CIA analyst who is great at her job, but unhappy being on the sidelines, monitoring and assisting the resident super-spy, played with equal parts smugness and cluelessness by Jude Law.

After a nuclear weapon goes missing and the identities of all the active CIA field agents are compromised, McCarthy is sent into the field to observe and report on the movements of an arms dealer played by Rose Byrne.

However, instead of just observing, she gets right into the action. McCarthy holds her own in the action scenes which, though they are quite violent, never forget to be comedic. Action star Jason Statham does a great job lampooning the archetype of a macho action star in a minor, but very funny, role as an overconfident, obnoxious spy gone rogue.

Spy really lets McCarthy shine with broad comedy and low-key comedic moments. Feig is smart enough to keep putting McCarthy in situations in which she is out of place without ever making fun of her. McCarthy has proven herself again and again adept at verbal and physical comedy, but also as someone that needs to be reined in either by a good script or director, with Feig she has both.